Final Nielsen Ratings From Recent Sports Telecasts

NBA Playoff telecasts led all sports telecasts last week. ABC's Sunday NBA
doubleheader topped broadcast TV sports for the weekend with Celtics-Knicks
Game Four (7.0 million viewers) and Heat-76ers Game Four (5.0 million viewers).
NBA games also took each of the top 10 spots for the most-viewed sports telecasts
on cable TV last week, with TNTs Lakers-Hornets Game Four leading the way with
6.3 million viewers. NBC averaged 1.6 million viewers for Sunday's Flyers-Sabres
NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game Six, marking the most-viewed NHL non-Conference
Final game in 12 years. The net also averaged 1.6 million viewers for the Capitals-Rangers
Game Five from Saturday (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).

TELECAST

DATE

NET

TIME (ET)

RAT.

VIEWERS (000)

NBA Eastern Conference
First Round:
Celtics-Knicks: Game Four

4/24

ABC

3:41-6:30pm

4.3

7,020

NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Heat-76ers: Game Four

4/24

ABC

12:53-3:41pm

3.1

5,025

PGA Tour: The Heritage: Final Round

4/24

CBS

3:15-6:30pm

1.9

2,960

MLB: (regional)

4/23

Fox

4:09-7:19pm

1.8

2,794

NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals:
Flyers-Sabres: Game Six

4/24

NBC

3:00-6:32pm

1.4

2,567

PGA Tour: The Heritage: Third Round

4/23

CBS

3:00-6:00pm

1.3

1,801

NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals:
Capitals-Rangers: Game Five

4/23

NBC

3:00-6:00pm

1.0

1,553

"NBA Countdown"

4/24

ABC

12:30-12:56pm

0.8

n/a

National Heads-Up Poker Championship
(taped)

4/24

NBC

12:00-2:00pm

0.7

990

Champions Tour: Liberty Mutual
Legends of Golf: Final Round

4/24

CBS

1:00-3:15pm

0.6

856

Champions Tour: Liberty Mutual
Legends of Golf: Third Round

4/23

CBS

1:00-3:00pm

0.5

639

"ESPN Sports Saturday"

4/23

ABC

4:00-6:00pm

0.5

n/a

Laureus Sports Awards (taped)

4/24

NBC

2:00-3:00pm

0.4

492

TELECAST

DATE

NET

TIME (ET)

RAT.

VIEWERS (000)

NBA Western Conference
First Round:
Lakers-Hornets: Game Four

4/24

TNT

9:47pm-12:36am

3.9

6,281

NBA Western Conference First Round:
Lakers-Hornets: Game Two

4/20

TNT

10:45pm-1:29am

3.4

5,352

NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Bulls-Pacers: Game Two

4/18

TNT

9:39pm-12:32am

3.2

4,908

NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Knicks-Celtics: Game Two

4/19

TNT

7:09-9:47pm

3.0

4,730

NBA Western Conference First Round:
Lakers-Hornets: Game Three

4/22

ESPN

9:39pm-12:11am

2.8

4,578

NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Magic-Hawks: Game Four

4/24

TNT

7:09-9:47pm

2.7

4,506

NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Heat-76ers: Game Three

4/21

TNT

8:09-10:44pm

2.5

3,875

NBA Western Conference First Round:
Mavericks-Trail Blazers: Game Two

4/19

TNT

9:47pm-12:12am

2.5

3,846

NBA Western Conference First Round:
Thunder-Nuggets: Game Three

4/23

ESPN

10:19pm-1:07am

2.4

3,664

NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Bulls-Pacers: Game Four

4/23

TNT

2:38-5:22pm

2.2

3,534

SKATING AT FULL STRENGTH: Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia
averaged a 12.6 local rating and 383,000 HHs in the Philadelphia market for
Flyers-Sabres Game Seven, marking the most-watched Flyers game in the channel's
history. The previous record was set by Game Seven of last year's Flyers-Bruins
Eastern Conference Semifinal. CSN Philadelphia through the first round is averaging
a 7.8 local rating for its Flyers playoff coverage, up 47% from last year (CSN).
NESN earned a 17.7 local rating in Boston on Wednesday night for Bruins-Canadiens
Game Seven, marking a Bruins single-game ratings record on the net. NESN's seven
telecasts for the series averaged an 11.9 local rating, marking the net's highest-rated
Bruins playoff series ever (NESN). Sun Sports earned a 4.5 local rating
in the Tampa-St. Pete market on Wednesday night for Lightning-Penguins Game
Seven, marking the highest-rated Lightning playoff game on the net in eight
years (TAMPABAY.com, 4/29).

SUPER TUESDAY: CSN Chicago earned its highest-ever local rating
in the Chicago market on Tuesday, when it aired Game Five of the Bulls-Pacers
First Round series, Game Seven of the Canucks-Blackhawks Western Conference
Quarterfinal series and White Sox-Yankees on CSN+. Canucks-Blackhawks earned
a 13.3 local rating, the net's highest-ever Blackhawks rating, exceeding the
record set by Game Six of the series last Sunday. Bulls-Pacers earned a 10.9
local rating, the net's second-highest Bulls rating ever, behind a 13.7 rating
for Game Three of the series (CSN). CSN Chicago averaged around 467,000
HHs for the Blackhawks telecast and 383,000 HHs for the Bulls telecast (CHICAGO
TRIBUNE, 4/28).

LOVING THEIR GAMES: TNT through Tuesday was delivering the
most-watched and highest-rated NBA playoffs in league history on cable. The
net also was delivering double-digit growth in affluent viewers with a household
income of $100K+ or $125K+ across adults 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. The growth
for both affluent categories is the most of any pro sports league for the playoffs
or regular season. Additionally, NBA TV's Grizzlies-Spurs Game Five on Wednesday
night averaged 835,000 viewers, marking the net's most-viewed program this season.
By comparison, the net's viewership for the non-exclusive coverage of Grizzlies-Spurs
was up 131% over ESPN's non-exclusive coverage of A's-Angels on the same night
(THE DAILY).